Is California Dangling Carrots to Misdirect the Bunnies?
A friend accused me of buying into a conspiracy theory this week when I told her to be careful spending her California Middle Class Tax Refund debit card.
She thinks I should be grateful for getting a one-time $350 payment from the state. It is a welcome chunk of change. That makes me happy. But I believe it’s a diversion tactic.
A lot of people are living in fear of lack of money as they watch prices climb and their paychecks remain the same. I get it. I’ve lived in that fear most of my life. As a result, I kept the flow of money at bay through the Law of Attraction.
I also believe government stimulus checks are not designed to make a permanent impact. They’re merely carrots dangling before the rabbits who politicians want to control. That’s the way capitalists create our culture.
The rich need us to feel poor and powerless so they can manipulate our mindsets for the accumulation of their gain. Political energy is very low, vibrationally speaking. It’s based on fear, mudslinging and the need to win – even if winning means everyone loses.
Why do I believe the California Middle Class Tax Refund money now being distributed is a bunch of dangling carrots?
· To date about 6.9 million taxpayers have received the full amount of their refunds through direct deposit. About 4.5 million people have thus far received preloaded debit cards. They arrived in a white envelope with a return address from Omaha, NE. The debit card came from New York Community Bank and Money Network
· The debit cardholders get to pay fees on purchases – fees direct deposit recipients don’t have to pay. There are also fees to withdraw the funds from Money Network if you don’t use a facility within the network. By facility, we mean ATM machines as New York Community Banks doesn’t have any bank branches in California. The New York Community Bank doesn’t usually do business in California. The financial institution only serves a handful of states including Arizona, Florida, Ohio, New Jersey and New York. Money Network only provides ATM machines. The fee-free ones are usually located at gas stations and stores where everyone walking by can watch you withdraw your money.
· To activate the debit cards, cardholders must agree to service terms – terms most recipients don’t bother to read. Those terms include forfeiting personal information so Money Network / New York Community Bank can use your information for marketing purposes. In November 2020, California voters passed Proposition 24 by 56.23 percent, creating legislation that allows Californians to opt out of having personal information shared for marketing purposes.
· Last month, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported many of the debit cards don’t have security chips. The chips were required in the contract to avoid a debacle such as the one that resulted during the pandemic in which organized crime rings managed to steal money earmarked for jobless Californians.
Feel free to join my friend in thinking I’m a conspiracy theorist. I might be. But if I am, I’m in good company. Journalists with ABC-7 Television in Los Angeles are raising the same questions I did. Click here to see that report.
Meanwhile here are 5 Reasons I’m not a conspiracy theorist
#1 This Ain’t My First Rodeo
I was a journalist for three decades. I covered a lot of government corruption. It turned me into a cynic. I believe in questioning everything. I also believe in bucking systems that buck me. Currently, I have only been able to obtain conflicting information as to whether or not our personal information is being shared. But opting out was not a choice despite Prop 24.
#2 Duality in Distribution
Direct deposit recipients aren’t subjected to debit card fees or having their private information used for the financial institutions’ marketing purposes. Duality divides.
#3 Do the Math
The State of California paid Money Network of Georgia $29 million to distribute debit cards to about 11 million people. The average taxpayer received a one-time payment of $200-1,050 with $350 appearing to be an average amount. If each of the 4.5 million people used their cards once and paid the $1.25 service fee, Money Network earns an additional several million dollars.
I’m a writer working to develop an email subscription list as a requirement to pitch a proposal to a traditional publishing house. I’ve learned to my dismay that buying and selling email lists is common – although frowned up. Email brokers are easy to find online. They sell lists for an average cost of $200-600 per 1,000 names. The lists can be used multiple times.
#4 Hopping Off the Bunny Trail for a Dangling Carrot
I don’t believe in coincidences. So, I find it interesting the California State Assembly announced the refund payments would start arriving just before the mid-term elections. The debit cards expire in April 2026. Any nickels in your balance return to the State of California just in time to announce there’s newfound money when the next mid-term election campaigners start delivering propaganda.